South Korea Rate Decision On Tap For Thursday

(RTTNews) - The Bank of Korea will wrap up its monetary policy meeting on Thursday and then announce its decision on interest rates, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. The BoK is widely expected to keep its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 3.50 percent.

Australia will see preliminary February figures for the manufacturing and services PMIs from Judo Bank; in January, their scores were 50.1 and 49.1, respectively.

Japan will see preliminary February figures for the manufacturing and services PMIs from Jibun Bank; in January, their scores were 48.0 and 53.1, respectively.

New Zealand will release January numbers for imports, exports and trade balance. In December, imports were worth NZ$6.26 billion and exports were at NZ$5.94 billion for a trade deficit of NZ$323 million.

Hong Kong will provide January figures for consumer prices; in December, inflation rose 0.1 percent on month and 2.4 percent on year.